St. John's Historic Cemetery
Once part of Ridgefield Plantation, the land for the Church and Cemetery fronted on the Terrebonne Road - now Jackson Street - connecting Bayous Lafourche and Terrebonne. An entire block was donated in the early 1840s by George Seth and Caroline Lucretia Winder Guion, who moved from Natchez to Lafourche Parish after marrying in 1831. Guion's grandfather Issac Guion fought in the American Revolution, later in the Indian Wars in the Old Northwest Territory in the 1790s. The Winders were Kentuckians; Caroline's brother, Van Winder, settled at Ducros Plantation near present-day Schriever. After its creation, the Cemetery was divided into plots roughly twenty feet square; in each plot, eight sections were designated as burial sites. Narrow "streets" separate the rows of burial plots and are named for some of the founders and for several Episcopal priests who served at St. John's. A wrought iron fence and gates donated by Minnie Roberta Williams were erected in 1916. The lawn crypt was built in the west corner of the Cemetery in the 1960s. Live oaks surrounding the cemetery were planted in the 1850s by Thomas R.B. Trader, of Maryland, the rector from 1854-69. The cemetery has served people of all faiths. Many were influential in state and local history, such as Governor Francis Tillou Nicholls. Buried in the Cemetery are veterans of American wars from the War of 1812 to and including the Vietnam War. All visitors are welcomed, dawn to dusk. We hope that you enjoy your tours.